Temperance
by xoxbreyoxo
Summary: Set waaaaaaaaaaaaay down the line, this is the "what if?"/ after it all story
1. Chapter 1

**disclaimer: **I do not own Bones, these character's, with the exception of Brennan who is in fact all mine, belong to HH

_Temperance._ Brennan was five years old the first time he saw the word on his father's wrist. Usually hidden by a watch inscribed to the "World's Greatest Dad," they were ten letters that his young mind couldn't place and quickly forgot.

It was years later, when a fifteen year old Brennan pulled open a worn copy of Bred in the Bone and immediately became engrossed in the lives of Kathy and Andy that the word, or more correctly _name_, came to mind along with the extreme similarities between Andy and one Special Agent Seeley Booth.

It all came full circle when, at seventeen, Brennan Zackary Booth was helping Angela and Jack Hodgins box some old photos and other keepsakes for their move. The first dozen or so albums and boxes were full of wedding and family photos, several of which included himself, along with his father and Parker. But there was one box, larger than the rest and filled to bursting, overflowing with pictures of a close group of friends, only some of which were familiar. Brennan immediately recognized Seeley, Angela and Jack, Cam and even Doctor Goodman. The other two faces, one man and one woman, were almost familiar, but couldn't be placed. As he sifted through the stack of photos before returning them all to the box, two caught his attention. One more group photo with his father's messy scrawl above each face of the wedding party: _Angela, Hodgins, Cam, Billy Gibbons!!, Zack, Caroline,_ and finally _Temperance__ Bones._ The second showed his father at the beach, shorts slung low around his hips, arms wrapped tightly around a woman, his face split in the biggest smile Brennan had ever seen. The woman was smiling too, both her hair and the wrap knotted loosely around her hips blowing in the gentle breeze, and leaning into Booth with a familiarity that only occurs between two people in love.

The quiet 'pop' of Seeley Booth's knee as he squatted next to his son drew Brennan's attention away from the photos scattered on the floor. Looking from the sad eyes of his heartbroken father to the tears streaming down Angela's face and Hodgins' clenching and unclenching fists, the boy prepared himself for whatever was to come. Whoever she was, this woman had cause a lot of pain when she left the close knit family this group had become.

"Let me tell you the story of Temperance Brennan…"


	2. Chapter 2

**disclaimer: **I do not own Bones, these character's, with the exception of Brennan who is in fact all mine, belong to HH

"Bones was…she was light. She was empirical and idealistic and she was…perfect. And I couldn't stand her. Get us in a room together and there was no chance of escaping unscathed. Sparks flew," Seeley chuckled, "usually followed by insults and occasionally files were known to soar in the direction of my head." Booth's eyes glossed over as he remembered his partner. "She was a squint. A forensic anthropologist I got assigned to babysit when I was at the bureau. She was…ridiculous. Didn't know how to relate to people, didn't know anything about life outside of the lab. But she was willing-no eager- to learn about it. She was probably the best person I've ever known and she--"

At this point Booth's story was drowned out by Angela's strangled sob. Brennan looked up to see tears falling even from Uncle Jack's eyes as his wife crashed to her knees at his feet. "She w-w-was my b-b-best friend," the broken woman stuttered between sobs.

"She was all of our best friend. She was probably the most irritating person ever until you got to know her, but she was amazing. Fiercely loyal, incredibly loving. She was so much better than I ever gave her credit for. She was always so focused on whatever had her attention, be it work or play. She always gave her all, to the people she was trying to help, to her friends."

"What happened? Why isn't she here if she was so close to you guys, then?" the boy wondered quietly. He raised confused eyes to his father, silently pleading for answers. "I mean, in the pictures…you guys look so happy. How could she just take off after that?"

Anger flashed across the former FBI agent's face at Brennan's cynical tone. "She was…taken from us. Just after she married the man she loved, began a new chapter in her life that she never thought she would even attempt. It was taken from her, from all of us so fast we couldn't even react. Hodgins, do you have…?"

"Yeah, man. I'll get it. Take care of Angie." The distraught man handed his limp wife over to his friend and hurried out of the room. He returned quickly with a thick and obviously well read file. Quietly sitting between the Booth men, Hodgins opened the file and separated the contents into familiar piles as Seeley took a deep breath to prepare for a 

discussion he wasn't ready to have again.

"This is everything we, the FBI, and the Jeffersonian know about the disappearance of Temperance Brennan…"


	3. Chapter 3

**disclaimer: **I do not own Bones, these character's, with the exception of Brennan who is in fact all mine, belong to HH

"On September 17, 2012," Seeley started with a sigh, "Temperance Brennan was sent home from the hospital with her new born baby boy. She was released at three seventeen pm, security cameras captured her exit, 3 floors down at three twenty-six and a traffic camera four blocks away caught her at a red light at three forty one. Her apartment was exactly twenty seen minutes from the hospital. With that in mind, she would have arrived home at approximately four o'clock. When I showed up here to check on her at four twenty, the house was in shambles, torn apart worse than the aftermath of an FBI raid, and Bones was nowhere to be found."

Brennan watched as Hodgins led Angela from the room, her sobs overtaking her again. It was obvious they didn't need to hear this story again, so the boy was surprised when his uncle joined them again before his father continued the tale.

"There was a small trail of blood starting in the master bathroom that led out the front door. It was found to not belong to Temperance, which didn't really surprise any of us since she could kick my ass with her eyes closed," Hodgins and Booth both had a hint of a smile on there faces at the memory of the game of Twister that resulted in Booth's broken wrist and bloody nose. Seeley sighed and continued the familiar story. "There was obvious evidence of forced entry and you could tell she put up one helluva fight."

"What happened to her baby, Dad?" Brennan half whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **Don't own 'em. Wish I did. Well, except Brennan. He's purely a figment of my imagination

**A/N:** Sorry I haven't been updating. My muse only seems to hit me between 2 and 4 am, but I've been sick so I haven't been up. Please read and review guys! Reviews are my incentive to write. The more I hear from you, the more you hear from me!

**Chapter Four**

"_What happened to her baby, Dad?" Brennan half whispered._

"That little hellion was screaming like a banshee by the time back up got there. I found him all wrapped up, hidden under Bones' bed. Like she knew someone was coming for her, she had him hidden, it took me almost five minutes to get that tiny baby out. He was perfect though, except for one cut, about a half inch long. Right above his left ear."

Brennan's fingers slowly raised to finger the scar along his hair line. "You mean…I…but Bones…I thought I was _your_ son…?"

"You are, Brennan. You are. And you have the most amazing mother in the world. I promise you, someday you will meet her, know her. I don't know how yet, but I will _find_," Seeley's voice broke as tears slipped from his eyes once more, "I will find her. I **will** bring her home. I never gave up. You have to know…"

"We know, man. None of us did." Hodgins broke in, unable to watch his friend break down again.

Brennan had stopped paying attention, however, and was fingering the picture of his father and this woman—his mother—tenderly.

He had a mother. And she needed his help...


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Sorry it took me so long, and even more so that it's so short. My muse has been moving in a _Twilight _direction rather than _Bones _so please don't hate me. I'll try to update soon!

**Disclaimer:** _Bones_ still does not belong to me, it is Hart Hanson's baby

**Chapter Five**

Nine hours, eight cups of coffee and an entire file box later, Brennan was sitting at the tiny kitchen table when his father's hand fell onto his shoulder. Chocolate eyes, puffy from hours of silent tears stared into red rimmed cobalt as his father once again begged him to leave it for the night and go up to bed.

"I…I can't, Dad. I can't explain it but…You've had seventeen years to wrap your head around this. I just found out I have a mom. Like a real one. And she's out there and it's up to us to bring her home so I…I just. I need to learn as much as I can. I need to figure out how I can help. You've got your FBI, Aunt Ange and Uncle Jack have the Jeffersonian. What can I bring to the table if I don't know all the facts. I just. I _have _to feel like I'm doing something for her. After all this time of…of ha--holding it against her that she wasn't here. I have to do something…" The boy's voice broke off as he collapsed against his father, his sobs shaking both of them.


	6. Author

Author's Note:

Hey guys, I'm really really sorry that I totally suck. I swear I tried to update on Saturday but my internet was down and I've been in bed with the flu since Sunday so here I am. I am not deleting this because some people were nice and replied to my inspiration issues and I want to keep the nice words but I am posting a longer chapter right after this, and I ended up finishing a "pilot chapter" for a new story so I will post that as well. If you guys don't hate me too much for breaking my promise, then maybe you could check that out too? Hope you like the new chapter.

XoXbReYoXo


	7. Chapter 6

**disclaimer: **I do not own Bones, these character's, with the exception of Brennan who is in fact all mine, belong to HH

**Chapter Six**

It had been three weeks since Jack and Angela moved and Brennan was beginning to lose steam. He had been through every page of the file box enough times to have the majority of it memorized. He knew every case she worked on the week he was born. He knew the grey blazer she was wearing, the exact state of the room when the FBI arrived and ransacked the apartment.

And now he was sitting at the dining table with her laptop trying to remember everything Angela had ever taught him about computers and hacking and firewalls and all that mumbo jumbo. After another useless hour tapping keys, the young boy pulled his iPod earbuds from his ears and flicked the television on to a news station before stomping into the kitchen for another cup of stale coffee.

Seeley was sitting at the computer when Brennan returned to the dining room, tapping at the keyboard with practice ease.

"UriahAddy. You never would have figured out her password, you weren't born yet when he was incarcerated. Zack was…he was family. And we weren't there for him when he needed us. And Bones, she never forgave herself for letting him down. She visited him every week. Up till the day before you were born.

"Zack was the one that proved from the crime scene photos that she knew. Bones knew someone was after her. She was prepared for it. He picked up clues from their conversations for weeks before she disappeared. She kept talking about her parents and their past. And then she would cut herself off in the middle of a sentence and change the subject to some tedious limbo case she had her grad students working on.

"He's the one that got Angela to make a schematic of the apartment and pointed out all the subtle changes she had made in furniture, all the holes in her closet from the bags she had packed and ready to go all over the house. Bones--she knew what was happening. She knew that they…oh my god!"

Brennan watched as his father jumped to his feet and dove at the television where a reporter was frantically summarizing the scene played out behind her. All either Booth man could see, however, was the flash of auburn hair and the pale face bloodied and bruised as Temperance was loaded into a medical helicopter.


	8. Author's Note

A/N: Not Updating

I am so sorry you guys, it took me forever to start working on this fic when I was able to step out of my Twilight frenzy, and I did. I have completed 5 more chapters for this, trying to make sure I knew where I was going before I started posting, so my story didn't start to veer off of where I wanted it to lead.

Last week my dog attempted to eat my flash drive that I keep my writing on so I can work on it anywhere. I _should_ have most if not all of the chapters backed up on my external drive, I'm just waiting for it to reformat or whatever it decided it needs to do. I promise to update every 'in progress' story by the end of the week.

I am **SO **sorry for not updating. I've been having internet issues and now this. I am so sorry guys!

xoxbreyoxo


	9. Chapter 7

"Doctor Temperance Brennan was found early this morning. Details are not being shared until Doctor Brennan's friends and family are located and informed and she has been treated for her multiple injuries. This discovery is following her mysterious disappearance nearly eighteen years ago. We will get more information to you as soon as we get it."

Seeley was on the phone with Doctor Goodman, with Caroline on the other line and Brennan was trying repeatedly to get through to Jack and Angela before the newscaster finished his speech. They were in the car before the news station moved onto a different topic and were racing down the road and squealing into the hospital parking lot before the first of the commercials finished.

Pulling directly up to the emergency room entrance, Seeley grabbed his badge and jumped out of the car without even shifting into park. The nurse at the registration desk couldn't understand anything but "Temperance Brennan" and "husband" coming out of the hysterical man's lips and frantically pointed through the opening double doors as the badge was flashed in her face.

"Bones!! Bones!? Where are you?!"

Nothing. Whereisshe?Whydidn'tsheanswer?Howbadisshehurt?Sheneedsme…

Booth's internal argument was drowned out by his son's choked, "Mommy?!"

And his knees gave out when he heard a strangled, "Boooth" in response. He couldn't even feel the tears pouring from his eyes, blurring his vision as he watched Tempe force her way free of the doctor and nurses trying to hold her to the bed as they ran their tests. He didn't feel her vicelike grip around his neck, or how her body was dead weight on his when she too collapsed.

All he saw was Temperance. She was home. They could fix everything else. She was home.

"Brennan? You're so tall..!"

**A/N: I know it's really short. Next chapter we get into where Bones has been and all of that. Please bear with me!**


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